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According to a report in the UAE-based Gulf News, the Dodsal Group owned Mumbai Tigers FC, who are currently playing in the final round of the 2nd Division I-League, are set to bid for one of the I-League franchises that the AIFF has put out into the market. Rajen Kilachand, the chairman of Dubai-based conglomerate Dodsal Group, told Gulf News when asked if he is bidding, “Of course, we are bidding. We have two choices, to ignore this route and play out the remainder of the second division, or, if accepted, we don’t have to go through this process. Because, if we don’t make top two in the second division this season, we would have to wait a whole year again to go up.”
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As per the requirements of a successful bid for a new I-League franchise, the newcomers will have to commit to build a stadium and run a club academy, which the Dodsal Group is willing to do with Navi Mumbai their likely destination for a stadium and training complex.
A few months back, Mumbai Tigers FC were linked to former French international Mikael Silvestre, but Rajen Kilachand has his own philosophy on players for his club. “My philosophy is to combine players from Africa, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and India, because, at the end of the day, the next 1,000 years of the planet belong to everything in this part of the world – the party in the West is over. The future Beckhams are all going to be here and the future is not 20 years from now, it’s two years down the road.”
A confident approach by Rajen Kilachand and one thing looks to be certain. Mumbai Tigers FC will play I-League next season, be it through promotion or being awarded a Franchise.
